A 555.55-carat rare and “out of this world” black diamond will be placed on the auction block in the London by Sotheby’s next month, which is expected to fetch around £5 million ($AU9.46 million).
The black diamond, named “The Enigma”, was unveiled in Dubai this week then moved on to Los Angeles as part of its exhibition tour before heading to London to be auctioned with online bidding scheduled for 3 to 9 February.
According to Sophie Stevens, jewellery specialist, Sotheby’s Dubai told AP the significance of the stone to the number five is important and symbolic.
“So, there’s a nice theme of the number five running throughout the diamond,” she said, explaining that aside from the stone’s caratage, it also has 55 facets and shaped like the Middle-Eastern palm symbol Khamsa which also means “five” in Arabic.
The stone, which was classified as a carbonado diamond, traced its origins from outer space based on their carbon isotope properties and high hydrogen content.
Black diamonds are mostly found in Central Africa and Brazil, believed to have been formed 2.6 to 3.8 billion years ago.
“With the carbonado diamonds, we believe that they were formed through extraterrestrial origins, with meteorites colliding with the Earth and either forming chemical vapor disposition or indeed coming from the meteorites themselves,” Stevens added.
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